Wammy Girls 9: I and X
by Lil' Button Nose
Summary: Ice is the adopted daughter of an ex-Wammy residant and serial killer. Xia is a mixed Black girl trying to fit in Wammy's w/o scaring people off with her severe OCD. See their adventures and life together as they try to grow up as normally as they could. T for much much later chapters.
1. Newbie

Wammy's House only accepted orphans who proved to have some kind of gift or talent to help solve cases. They were groomed to be the successors to the one and only L. The world's greatest detective who was second to none. Oh, how the children longed to see and talk to him. Despite him not actually ever physically visiting them, he was their sole role model and father figure.

However kids were kids so there were fights, chatter, disciplinary issues, and (for some) the plague of puberty. Even if being part of an institution full of geniuses to be was special, the kids took it for granted. Life was carefree and somewhat boring for them. The arrival of someone new always sparked up something in them. And one day, the orphanage manager announced a new girl. A large group of kids immediately crowded around his office.

The children of Wammy's House were chatting among themselves about the new girl. Her name was Ice. Ironically, she was not from anywhere with a cold climate but from California (as Roger, the manager, told them) . The kids wondered about how she got to England from the States and what her 'gift' was. A few even wondered if she was related to anyone of the kids already in the orphanage that also came from the States.

Roger blocked everyone's view of Ice. "Now now, settle down. She just came from L.A. She must be exhausted. Her roommate will either be Gigi...or Xia..." At the mention of Xia, a few kids backed away. The excited chatter turned into skeptical whispers and murmurs. Roger frowned. He closed the office door and the kids heard him muttering to Ice. They all quieted down to try and hear her voice. She didn't say anything.

Roger then came out of his office with his hand on Ice's shoulder, and a firm look on his face. The kids made a split in the crowd and they all gawked at Ice. She stared straight ahead and was rather roughly led to the dorms. Soon enough, Ice and Roger were well out of earshot.

Ice had a sickly pale complexion. Only highlighted by her snow white hair. Her eyes were round and very doe-like. At least one was, as her long hair was blocking half of her face. The eye they saw was also amber and very watery. As if she had been crying. Her body was very small, and her clothes were loose and baggy.

"Her hair...is it natural?"

"Her skin...eww...she can't be from Cali..."

"Her eyes...they're so big..."

"She's so tiny. Her clothes make her look like a chihuahua.."

"You think she's the same blood as...Near?"

The kids were silent for a few seconds and chatter erupted once more. They began talking about Ice all over again.

Roger frowned and could feel Ice tense up as they walked further down the hallway to her new room.


	2. Ice Meets Xia

Roger stopped in front of a room door labeled 9-X. He gently released his hand from Ice's shoulder and sighed.

"Now Ice, your new roommate is Xia. Xia has severe OCD. We give her medication to try and calm her down, but try not to provoke it or anything ok? She's prone to having panic attacks and can't control herself if things are out of order. Xia is also very tall for her age, and a little prejudiced because of her background and upbringing. So naturally she has a problem fitting in. If you are uncomfortable with this, we can switch you with Gigi. Understand?"

Ice nodded and stared at her feet and suitcase in her hands. Roger sighed again and knocked on the door four times. The door swung open to reveal Ice's new roommate, Xia. Ice looked up at her and Xia seemed to be sizing her up. "Xia, this is Ice. Ice, Xia", Roger rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes, waiting to see how Xia would react.

Ice was told that Xia was the same age as her (8 years), however Xia was almost as tall as Roger. It also seemed that Xia was the opposite of Ice. Her skin was a medium to dark complexion, her hair had tight curls that were held by a high ponytail, her eyes were a light brown color and rather small. Xia's ensemble was odd...it seemed...unique. She wore a plain old shirt with sweatpants but they didn't seem factory made. Xia also had a measuring tape slung around her neck.

"She's new. I need you to show her around and all that jazz. If you don't like her or vice-versa, she'll go to Gigi. Please try your best not to cause anything Xia.", with that Roger left the two girls awkwardly standing in the hallway. Xia gave him a glare but a friendly smile towards Ice's way.

"C'mon girl. Don' be shy. I don' bite. I'm sure Roger gave ya the 'Xia-got-that-OCD' talk already. Am I right? Well don' be worryin', I took my medication today. Plus you makin' me feel somethin', we gon' be good friends. I know it. C'mon.", Xia coaxed Ice in the room. Ice stayed silent and stared at the room in awe.

Xia's gift seemed to be sewing and such. Her room had organized fabrics and a beautiful sewing machine. Yarn laid neatly on high shelves with the knitting needles and crochet hooks were hung underneath in tubs. Different sketches were all pinned on a wall, they had little scribbles and patches of fabric. Ice eyed finished garments that were hanging on a cart and she noted they all had a funky X somewhere, similar to the X Xia had on her shirt.

"Sorry for all the stuff. It's been a while since I had me a roomie. I always be scarin' them off. It's sad...but hey. At least I kept the otha half of the room undisturbed. You can do whatever you want with that. Just...keep it neat..." Xia frowned and eyed a prescription bottle that laid next to her sewing machine.

"Oh, I'm not a pig. I can keep my side clean. It's really cool you can do this stuff Xia. I wouldn't want to have to switch out, I doubt anyone would have a room this amazing." Ice replied. Xia smiled, pleased to hear her roommate speak. Xia then immediately began to unpack Ice's stuff and organizing it. She also was muttering and her eyes widened as she swiftly moved. Ice was a little taken aback but didn't stop her.

After Xia finished, she frowned once more and took two pills from the bottle. "I'm sorry about that. B-but hey, now we can start the tour, huh? Don' be gettin' lost now, ya hear?" Xia dragged Ice out of the room and the contrast between them was even greater as they were side by side.


	3. Not-So-Grand of a tour

**Author's note: I will try and upload new chapters every other day. I'm not begging or forcing anyone, but leaving a review would be nice. GIGI IS BASED OFF ME: SHE IS, BY DEFINITION, A MARY-SUE BUT SHE'S NOT REALLY IN THE PLOT THAT MUCH, IF AT ALL. Oh and if the story is being too rushed, let me know. This is a long chapter so please bear with me. Enjoy~!**

Xia led Ice out of the dorms and she muttered something. Ice couldn't exactly understand, but figured it was a different language. Ice was Italian and even though she wasn't raised with her birth parents, she could speak decent Italian. Xia saw Ice's puzzled expression and realized she was speaking Portuguese again. She smiled in a sympathetic way.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I need to give ya mo' info on myself. I'm part Portuguese and grew up with my Auntie on my daddy's side. I can speak it fluently 'cause my Auntie can't speak English very well. Even though she was my family, she was racist. I'm Black on my momma's side and my Auntie can't stand her ; even her brother's daughter wasn't no exception to her racial views. So she almost neva liked me. Tolerated me at most. She ain't neva care 'bout me 'til she found out I could get her some of that green paper. Eventually I got saved by Mello and Roger. But for now we lookin' for Gigi. I'm sure you've heard her name like five times already, might as well meet the chick. So you gonna tell me about yourself?" Ice was impressed by Xia's unorthodox heritage and backstory. She felt so plain and simple but figured Xia didn't judge.

"I'm Italian. I've been told I have the accent-"

"Ya do. It's awesome. Oh, sorry"

"Haha, thanks. Anyways, I'm from California. Los Angeles to be specific. I never knew my actual parents, I've been in a foster family for as long as I can remember. They weren't Italian but made me study the language because I was. I think one of them said I 'looked' Russian so I barely know that language. All I know is I'm European and somehow ended up in L.A. and now I'm in Britain. It is freezing over here."

"Ha. You'll get used to it. Your name is the epitome of irony, huh? By the way, not to be rude or anythin', is your hair that color naturally? And are you anemic or...?"

Before Ice could answer, a girl called out Xia's name. Xia smiled and called back to her. The girl came up to the duo and two boys followed behind her. Ice was introduced to Gigi, Jyo, and Kale.

Gigi had medium length red hair that kind of stood up on the sides. Jyo was the tallest and palest of the trio and wore all black. His hair was sideswept and he wore dark-rimmed glasses. Kale was slightly taller than Gigi and had a generic male hairstyle. Kale also had a serious face and didn't really seem to be the talkative type.

"So Ice, you got stuck with Xia huh? Well since nobody's made it this far with her, you beat a record! Way to go! Please get along with her, I like having my own room. If I stay roommate-less for another three weeks, it'll be a record I'll beat. Wooooooohooooo" She smiled and she seemed to be radiant with energy. Ice couldn't help but smile with her and was kind of confused as to why Kale and Jyo seemed so serious with someone like Gigi.

"Well, while she's doing that...I gotta ask about the lack of color on your face and hair...you're gonna get alot of trouble for that..." Jyo's words frightened Ice and he got disapproving stares from everyone else. Xia frowned and defensively took a step forward. Jyo accidently backed up into Kale and Xia continued to give him a death glare. Kale whispered something to Gigi and she whispered back.

"AYE! Whatcu and Kale whisperin' 'bout? Ain't nothin' wrong with her colors. She can't control them. Jyo, you're not too far-off from her color either. Not much room to talk, and you wear clothes like you goin' to a funeral or somethin'." Xia's piercing words surprised everyone, Jyo glared back at her while Kale stepped back further and stood behind Gigi. Ice awkwardly looked further down the hall. Kale looked straight at her, only making things more awkward.

"Calm down girl. Jyo's never seen anyone paler than him. Of course he's SURPRISEDFACE. And we know Kale doesn't talk that much, if at all. So he likes to whisper and I translate for him, ya know. I speaky his language, haha. Buuuut we're runnin' late so I'll see you two later? Buh-bye~!" Xia and Jyo stopped their glare-off. Gigi turned on her heel and sped off with Kale and Jyo following.

"Wonder where they were off too...so sorry about Jyo. Ya think he'd know better than to ask that..." Xia growled a bit and glanced at a clock on the wall. "Oooh, it's lunch-time. I don't eat in the cafeteria but I'll show you for today. C'mon" Xia forcibly grabbed Ice's hand and practically dragged her down to the cafeteria.

* * *

At the cafeteria doors, Xia suddenly stopped. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths, still holding on tightly to Ice's hand. Xia used her other hand to open the doors, and opened her eyes.

The cafeteria had lots of square tables with white tablecloths. The tables were occupied with tons of children, of all ages and types. Some kids weren't even sitting at the tables; the window sills or even the floors were littered with children. It seemed Wammy's had a simple lunch system of getting a tray with food and picking a spot. The doors disguised the actual size of the cafeteria, making Ice feel wary. A few kids stopped eating and gawked at her.

"Hey, isn't that the new kid? Isis or something?"

"Toby said she's Near's lost-long sister!"  
"With her skin and hair, most definitely..."  
"Wait, isn't she rooming with Xia?"  
"I bet they'll switch soon enough. Gigi's gonna throw a fit for not getting to have her own room."

The children had these conversations as if the two girls weren't standing straight in front of them. Ice frowned and looked at how her hand practically made the tablecloths looks dull. She also self-consciously patted her hair. Xia tightened her grip on Ice's hand and gave the kids a death glare. They ceased speaking and began to whisper loudly.

"This is the cafeteria. If you wanna gossip, you'll be perfect here. But I hope you don' be like these nosy pricks stickin' their heads in someone else's garden. So the main students. See over there? That kid with the food straight in front of him but he ain't eatin' it? Instead he havin' a chocolate bar. That's Mello. He's second best at Wammy's. Grade-wise anyway. I think he's really smart and totally deserves to succeed L. He's only second to Near. I know everyone compares him to you, but he is truly a genius. More brain than heart though. He's a toughie. He ain't in the cafeteria either, we gon' have to find him later. His hair and skin is like yours. Pale. Matt's not here either...Matt is Mello's bestie. He's also third best in the whole house. Look for somebody that resembles Gigi. If he has a portable game system, it's Matt. Everyone else is scattered around I believe. Gigi's pretty popular and, to an extent, Jyo and Kale share that popularity. I'm not very popular..." Xia trailed off as she stared a hole into the back of Mello's head.

"Hello Xia. I'm surprised you're here, you're not exactly a typical visitor. I see Wammy's has a new student. Would you mind acquainting us?" A pompous voice made Ice slightly cringe. She turned around and saw the voice's owner, which only made her cringe more. 'She's definitely a girly girl. Something about her is making me feel...off...,' Ice thought to herself.

The girl was wearing a pink summer dress with a white sash tied into a bow. Her hair was blonde and her curls almost matched Xia's, except they were freely framing her face. Round blue-green eyes gave Ice a bit of cold stare. The girl had a bunny barrette in her hair, and a matching necklace. Freckles were sprinkled across the girl's face, especially around her nose. Xia still wasn't paying attention and Ice had to nudge her while still staring at the girl.

"Oh. Hi Bunny. This is Ice. She from L.A. and Ice, this is Bunny. She from Ireland. Bunny here is also quite popular. She came after me, was my first roommate. And then she got switched...with Cathryn." Xia's tone got cold towards the end of her sentence. Bunny flipped her curls over her shoulder and aimed her cold stare to Xia. Bunny narrowed her eyes and suddenly her mouth stretched so much, it was hard to tell if she was smiling or just baring her large white teeth.  
"Xia, you know that was out of my control. Roger felt that it was better for me to be with Cathryn. This was before your medication, and if you had more self-discipline before, I would've stayed. However, that just wasn't the case, was it?"

Ice's dislike for Bunny grew. "How are you gonna blame her for having OCD? Severe OCD at that. You know that's outta her control, right?" Ice didn't exactly know what triggered Xia's OCD but figured that it was something minor that made Xia go crazy. Bunny looked taken aback and her cold stare turned into a powerful glare. Her face started turning red, making her freckles slightly thin out.

"Your voice...Let me guess, Italian? Figures." She scoffed and left. Ice could feel her face heating up and she knew with her complexion, that'd be an issue. Xia was shaking and began talking Portuguese again. Even though she couldn't comprehend what she was saying, Ice figured it wasn't ladylike talking.

* * *

At the end of the day, Roger came to check up on the duo. He was hoping everything went well, and it did. When he knocked on the door, Ice opened the door in a cheerful mood. He asked about the switch and Ice reassured him she'd be fine. He smiled and she said Xia was great at giving tours. Xia smiled and beamed with pride. Roger told Ice to meet him the next day to talk about scheduling and other things. He left in a much more relaxed mood.

"You didn't get to meet Near or Matt today, I'm sorry. But I promise ya, you gon' meet them tomorrow."  
"Great! Well should we get to bed?"  
"Probably, good night."

The girls drifted off to sleep with moonlight reflecting off their happy faces.


	4. Wandering and Wonders

Ice jerked up from her sleep, she had the sensation she was falling and naturally her body tried to save itself. It turns out she wasn't, she frowned and tried to go back to sleep. She did not succeed. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was 3:15 a.m. which only upset her even more. Ice yawned loudly and tiptoed out of bed. Xia was peacefully asleep, she slept on her back and seemed stiff.

Ice looked at the vanity closer to her bed and gently touched her eye. She didn't want to have her hair in her face, it was oily and she didn't like the sensation on her skin, but wasn't pleased with how her eye looked. Ice had very large and innocent looking doe eyes. They were a beautiful color of honey amber.

But her left eye wasn't as pretty. It was crossed in to look at her nose, and the skin around her eye had a nasty looking permanent bruise. Her left eyebrow also had a funky scar in the middle of it, making the hairs grow funny. It wasn't too bad, Ice's foster mother could make less obvious with makeup, but it still didn't look good compared to her right eye. Ice blinked and her left eye started to water.

"Its too early in the morning to worry about this eye. Ugh. What do I do now? Since Xia's asleep...maybe I can walk around the House until I get tired. Hopefully I won't get caught. But just in case..." Ice wet her hair to help reduce the oil and carefully adjusted her bangs so her left eye wouldn't get irritated but still wouldn't be seen. She glanced at sleeping Xia and carefully left the room.

Ice soon realized that fixing her hair was smart, she wasn't the only one wandering around. A bunch of other kids were too, she still hid from them. Jyo was right, the kids did get rather worked up about Ice's pallor colors. Ice was getting tired of everyone asking why she was so pale and asking if she knew Near. It didn't even matter because they wouldn't let her answer, Xia scared them off. Which was another reason why she was hiding, the kids seemed to dislike Xia and Ice didn't want them to face them without her.

After a few minutes of wandering and hiding, Ice found a room Xia didn't show her. It was empty of kids, except for one. Just by glancing at him, Ice knew this was the legendary Near everyone asked about. The room had large windows, and the sills were made into loveseats so kids could sit and enjoy the view comfortably. Near was sitting at one of these loveseats and gazing outside.

Near had on solid white pajamas, his hair was a curly mess of white,and his skin was pale. It wasn't too pale, but his ensemble didn't exactly help. Ice didn't realize she was staring at him until he looked dead at her. His eyes were charcoal grey and were very blank. They stared each other down until Ice chose to speak up.

"I'm Ice. I came here yesterday, you must be Near. I've heard you're the one setting the grade curve in this house full of geniuses, is that true?" Near looked out the window again and Ice felt peeved.

"Yes. I am Near. I do hold the highest grades in this institution. I've heard about you as well, it seems that our peers believe us as the same blood." Near looked at her hair specifically and his eyes traveled to his own hand and then to Ice's. Ice was taken aback by how monotone his voice was, and his vocabulary wasn't an 8 years old's vocabulary. She walked beside him and took the unoccupied seat. The dim moonlight brightened the two's hair. Near took a curl in his finger and began twirling it as he waited for Ice to say something.

"Too many people have asked me that. They don't even let me explain why my hair is like this. Is yours natural?"

"Yes, I've had this hair color for as long as I can remember."

"Oh. Mine's not. So we're not of the same blood."

"There was almost no chance of us being of the same blood anyway. The children here are silly and truly don't think things through."

"I agree. Pleasure meeting you, I'll see you around I guess. Ciao." Ice got up and left. Near stared after her and returned to gazing out the window.

Bunny's pompous manner ran through Ice's mind as she was talking to Near, she was getting annoyed so she left before she'd snap. Near wasn't anything like Bunny, Ice knew that, but she felt that odd feeling when she first met Bunny. Her face was heating up and Ice knew she had to calm down.

"You ok buddy? You look upset...maybe it's cause I'm seeing red on your face instead of white. You're really stealthy, I didn't even notice you and you'd think you would stand out. But Kale gave you away" Ice glanced up and saw Gigi with Kale behind her but she didn't see Jyo.

"Jyo's in bed. Me and Kale couldn't go back to sleep so we just did what you did. So what's up?"

"Oh...its nothing...But I ran into Near and met him." Kale crossed his arms and whispered something to Gigi.

"Did you? See why everyone bugged you? Y'all two have the same colors. 'Cept I think you're paler than Near. I might be wrong though, Near doesn't talk to me. Kale talks to him more." Gigi turned around and looked expectantly at him. Kale nodded and Ice was confused as to what he was nodding for. Gigi smiled and turned back to Ice. "You should get back to bed though. If Xia wakes up and sees you gone, she's gonna freak out. Her medication wears off in her sleep. I don't want her chasin' after me or Jyo or Kale. She's already upset at Jyo, the last thing she needs is to pick a fight with him. C'mon Kale, let's go see if Linda's willing to give us some art supplies for our 'project'." For the first time in front of Ice, Kale smiled and Gigi turned on her heel to leave. She glanced back at Ice and flashed a mischievous smile. Kale took off and Gigi followed.

Ice felt tired and saw the clock read 4:05. She walked back to the dorms and still hid from the kids she saw. They were talking about how Xia was bound to wake up to Ice wanting to switch rooms and Ice could feel her face heating up again. She managed to calm down before she got to the dorms though.

* * *

Xia awoke and swallowed 2 pills and a spoonful of liquid medicine. She frowned as she realized she was running out of pills. 'Roger needs to get my refill soon. Otherwise Imma spaz out again...'

Xia's OCD was triggered when things were incomplete or out of order. Uneven things also made her go crazy. Because of this, she was an excellent seamstress and a diligent student. However it made regular living very difficult. Students had to be very careful around her, Roger had to have special arrangements for her, the teachers and professors had to keep her calm in classrooms so her peers wouldn't be frightened.

Xia also faced some racism because she was Black. The kids were never direct with it, but they still discriminated against her. A few even denied that she was mixed, they claimed she just wanted to fit in. There was another Black girl at Wammy's that ruined Xia's reputation. She was the epitome of a ghetto diva. Her name was Akweenia,and the girls despised each other. Overall because of her severe OCD and heritage, Xia could not fit in. A few liked her, but they weren't friends.

Xia took a deep breath inward and wished that things would work out between her and Ice. 'I need a friend. I can't be hidden and locked away forever. Akweenia will not mess with her. At all, imma fight for her. She's lasted this long, she will not leave.' Xia promised herself and let out the breath.

She glanced at Ice's bed and Ice began to stir. Ice yawned loudly and got up. Xia smiled and Ice returned the grin. "I gotta get to Roger's office today. What is it he's gonna make me do?" Xia frowned remembering that Ice had to be gone for her 2nd day.

"He's gon' make you take tests to see where yo' level of intelligence is. He's also gon' make you take health exams to see if you need some special stuff and allergies and whatnot. It's gon take half the day. You lucky you doin' this on Friday, you don' have a schedule 'til Monday."

"Ha! Luck of the draw I suppose."

The girls heard a knocking on the door and Xia answered. It was Roger. "Ice. I see you are awake and ready. I overheard what Xia said, yes it is quite a lengthy process but you are 'special' case so it's going to be a little different. Let's go now." Ice swiftly got up, leaving Xia dumbfounded as to what Roger was saying.


	5. Backup's Backup, Legacy-Bequest

**Author's Note: Sorry for the late update! No, Ice is not a Mary-Sue. Trust me. Just give me time to explain in later chapters, ok? Or I can tell you specifically if it's such a problem to you about her 'upbringing'. Oh and thanks followers and fans! Love ya! x0x0x0x0 **

Roger looked over Ice as she sat across from him in his office. He looked at her coldly, and she began playing with a locket that was hidden under her sweater. He shook his head and she hid a smirk.

"B's last words before he left was that he'd haunt us. I never thought he actually would; it looks like he was thinking like L and used a back-up." Ice opened the necklace and looked at the picture inside.

B. It was a cursed letter in the Wammy's House. The very first B (Backup) went insane, and left the house. Nobody knew what he was doing, they just knew he wasn't afraid to murder. Something was wrong with him, and they never knew what it was. When B left, he swore to Roger that he'd return and that Roger would be the first to know of it.

Ice was B's revenge. He had found her as an injured survivor of an L.A. riot he started. He didn't care for her and wanted her gone. In other words, dead. She was only 2 and didn't quite understand what was going on when B lifted his knife. However, B's girlfriend, who was also an ex-Wammy kid, managed to stop him. She gave the idea to use Ice as L had used him. B still wanted her dead, because he was just that cold, but as the idea slowly sunk in, he spared her.

Ice grew up under the care of B and his girlfriend, Kaye. She was named Legacy-Bequest because she was the backup of Backup. B trained her very carefully and Kaye nurtured her as her own daughter. B eventually thought of a clever and complicated scheme, Legacy-Bequest became Ice and was sent to Wammy's. Kaye blackmailed Roger into letting Ice into Wammy's. For Kaye had managed to take a picture of one of the Wammy's kids.

Wammy's was extremely incognito. The kids were isolated from practically everything. They were still living lavish lives, but they could not communicate with outsiders at all. So Roger was at a dead-end when Kaye taunted him. She gave the picture to Ice and told Roger he had no choice. She was staying in England while B was executing his brilliant plan, so honestly Roger couldn't think of anything else but to comply. Kaye warned him that she'd check up on the house regularly to see if Ice was still there.

Ice wasn't informed of B's plan, but knew her part in Wammy's. B knew her intelligence was nothing compared to that of a Wammy's kid, but he still had some faith in her. All Ice had to do was attend and carefully observe L's successors. Kaye would then tell B what information Ice had obtained. After that, Ice was to be left on her own. For B would've beaten L and all he needed was Ice to mock the new L.

Roger carefully read over a letter that Kaye had given him right before she left. It was Ice's medical records and her suggested classes. He was upset and a little frightened at what B had in mind for leaving Ice at the house, but had to admit that B was quite thorough. Ice patiently waited and thought about what her new life would be like.

Letting out an exhausted sigh, Roger said, "Well it seems your...er...'parents' have everything mapped out for you. Thereby cutting this process entirely. I have to go talk to Tikhon and other staff members about you. You can go back to Xia now if you please. Oh, but before you go. Here, give these to her. I imagine she's running low by now." Roger gave Ice two bottles of prescription pills and sent her on her way. Ice promptly left with a familiar smirk on her face, leaving Roger worrried.


	6. Doppelgangers and Staring

Xia was pleasantly surprised to see Ice return in about 5 minutes. Curious, Xia asked why Ice was a 'special' case. Ice turned a deaf ear and gave her the medication refills. Xia let the matter drop immediately. "So, when can I meet the top 3 Wammy kids?", Ice remembered she already met Near and wondered if Gigi's words were true about Xia's reaction.

"Oh yeah. I did promise you. Don' worry. Matt and Mello are almost always together, the real challenge is findin' Near. No, not even that...it's really havin' Near not runnin' away from us..." Xia trailed off warily and Ice noticed that Xia fixed her side of the room while she was gone.

* * *

"New kid, huh? Figures she'd look just like Near. J and Gigi came along and I guess Near needed his own female doppelganger." Matt playfully tugged on Ice's hair. She cringed and shyly backed away.

Ice had to admit, Gigi did resemble Matt. They had the same hair color, similar hairstyles, and they even wore similar clothes. However, their eyes threw off the resemblance. Gigi had dark brown eyes, while Matt had dark blue eyes. Matt's eyes were also fairly round while Gigi had narrow eyes that were slightly slanted.

Xia chuckled at Matt's dry joke. Ice couldn't help but be frightened by the death glare she was given by Matt's friend, Mello. Mello had vivid blue eyes and brassy blond hair. Mello's hair was shoulder-length and he looked very feminine. He was taking a bite out of a chocolate bar and his nostrils flared as Ice returned his stare.

"So what? Is she another ego-maniac? Is she too good for Wammy's?"

"Mello, don't be so mean. Sure, she looks like Near but doesn't mean she is. Just because J looks like you doesn't mean she's like you-ok just because Gigi looks like me doesn't mean she acts like me. Right?"

"You two are annoying and too nice to twits like Near and Jyo."

Matt frowned and Xia simply stared at Mello. Ice noticed Xia had said nothing and only stared at Mello the whole conversation. Matt stared at Ice for a moment and turned back to Mello.

"Look. Her eyes. Plus her skin is _white_. Near's pale but she's _white_. Actually Near isn't really that pale...Mello, you're paler than Near."

Mello's glare seemed to be even more deadly, but before he could hiss out a response, Gigi appeared. Gigi chose to make an entrance by hugging Mello around the waist and ducking at the exact moment his fist swung back. Jyo barely managed to avoid it, and Kale simply stood next to Matt.

"It looks like you beat Near at somethin' , huh? Too bad me and Ice got you beat on that." Jyo said, taunting Mello. Mello's nostrils flared, but because Gigi was tightly holding his waist, he couldn't do anything else. He certainly did try though. Matt chuckled to himself and Xia gritted her teeth.

"You're just everywhere, aren't you?" Ice finally spoke up and Gigi grinned at her. She promptly let go of Mello and he lurched forward from her sudden release. Matt held back Mello and Kale moved next to Gigi. He crossed his arms and looked quite unamused. Jyo looked like was going to say something else but Gigi silenced him by taking his glasses.

"So you decided to talk, huh? Thought you were another snake with no tongue", Mello said while side glancing at Kale, "Where are you from? You sound...foreign. Not American ,I mean..."

"I'm Italian. I'm from California, but this is how I talk."

"That's pretty cool actually. See Mello? Near's not Italian, and he doesn't talk-a-like a-this!"

"Ooooh Matty. That's racist! She's not Mario's sister. Anyways, you guys seen J? We've been lookin' for her. Thought Mello was her for a second but I'm sadface that its not. At least he got his hug today. " Gigi gave Mello a disappointed glance. Xia stopped gritting her teeth but still looked upset.

"J is this girl who looks kinda like Mello. Same blonde hair, same black top, simila eyes too. 'cept her hair is longer and covers one of her eyes.", Xia explained to Ice. Ice nodded and noticed how much resemblance Gigi and Matt had. They seemed to notice her staring however, because they frowned at her and Gigi said something to Kale.

Matt told Gigi they haven't seen J and she sulked away with a turn of her heel. Jyo gave Mello a taunting smirk before he followed. Kale simply shook his head and followed. Ice wondered why the three were always together. Xia also mentioned that Matt and Mello were known to be with each other. '_Mental note: Wammy's kids are always in a group of sorts...not many loners here._', Ice thought to herself.

* * *

"Well me and Mello gotta study. So we'll see you around? Ice, you have to meet Tikhon. She's awesome. Go bug Xia about it." Mello glared at Ice before following Matt. Xia stared after them before returning her attention to Ice.

"That's the most I've heard you talk. So let's go meet Tikhon. Hopefully we don' run into other disturbin' people."

Xia frowned and Ice figured she was talking about Gigi. She wondered if Xia disliked Gigi or just didn't like her behavior towards Mello. Ice smirked a little.


	7. In Mother Russia, I Got Niggas to see

**Author's Note: This chapter has some Russian in it. Russian readers, please don't be offended by the crappy attempt! I used Google translate! But the translations are "yeah?" and "yes, girl?".**

**Mild cursing in this chapter as well.**

**Oh and my Black readers (or African-American if you wanna be PC), Akweenia is a stereotypical ghetto biotch. If you wanna help me ghettofy her some more, that would be appreciated. I'm using my neighbors as references . **

"Oh yes. Roger has informed me about you already. What a pleasure to meet you miss! I'm Tikhon. I am The Wammy's House master chef." Xia beamed at the woman.

Tikhon was a very tall woman. Her athletic build and charisma disguised her elder age. In fact, the only thing giving it away was her long grey hair tied into a high bun. Tikhon also had the same eyes as Ice. Except her left eye was normal, making her face quite beautiful. Her nose was also similar.

Tikhon gave a tray a delicacies to the girls and took off her apron. "Well go on. Try them. I made them not too long ago. Fleming and Linda were here a while ago trying some and they loved them. I want to serve them for dessert tonight." Xia took a quick bite of a pastry and gave Tikhon a thumbs up. Tikhon smiled and gave Ice an encouraging look.

Ice picked a fancy looking croissant and bit into it. It was a divine treat. She could feel her eyes widen and her mouth water. She nodded at Tikhon and finished it in a short time. Xia asked what it was.

"Well the recipe is Russian tea cookies. I decided to be fun and change the shapes for variety. Good, _Да_? I love making treats from Motherlands. They're great and remind me of when I was little girl and growing up. One day, I will convince Roger to take us. We all go to Russia and eat like gods! _ Да девушк_?" Tikhon took a pastry herself and sat down.

"You girl. Are you ok? Your skin, it's white. Like a bleached yak. Pinch your cheeks, it'll bring color to face." Ice was getting annoyed at people for questioning her complexion , but Tikhon didn't bother her as much. Ice took a liking to her Russian accent.

"Oh...I just have hyperthyroidism..." Ice glanced at Xia, who was stuffing her face, and she tried to ignore the confused expression she got. Tikhon frowned and gently touched Ice's neck. She nodded sympathetically and gave Ice another pastry.

"In my family, it runs deep. I know what it feels like. I used to have it, but with hard work and such, I pulled through. I help you. Come find me whenever you want. Roger didn't inform me of this but I'm happy you did. Here, take these." Tikhon gave Ice a warm towel that was filled with cookies. She gently scooted the girls out of the kitchen and started giving orders to the other chefs in Russian.

* * *

Xia was eating the cookies Tikhon had given Ice. At the same time, she was bombarding Ice with questions about her hyperthyroidism. Ice gently touched the locket around her neck.

"I don't know Xia. All I know is that it makes my eyes poke outta my head", Ice pointed her oversized eye, "and that I'm a 'bleached yak'." Ice looked at her hand.

"Speakin' of which...why you always coverin' that one eye? Can you see right?" Ice cringed and Xia dropped the subject.

"Aye. Who's this biotch? She so white." An unfamilar voice asked. Xia looked at the owner and crumbled the rest of the cookies. She began shaking again. Ice was taken aback.

The girl was wearing torn jeans. The jeans were so torn that Ice didn't realize they were jeans at first. A leopard print halter top was also part of the girl's ensemble. The thing that got Ice's attention the most, was the girl's hair. It was shaved on one side, with some fuzz growing. The other side had kinky brown curls, and fake straight blonde hair. There was a bright pink bow in the center of her head.

"Xia, who is she? What? You gon' stay there and not answer my question? I got places to be and niggas to see. I can' be be hurr all day. You seriously be irkin me with this crap. MOVE!" The girl roughly brushed past Ice. Ice felt her face heat up. She gave Xia a bit of a questioning glare.

"That. Is Akweenia. I don' like her. The least bit. Let's go. Now." Xia pulled Ice out of the hallway and sped past all the questioning kids. Ice wondered where they came from and why Xia was so upset.

* * *

The day ended with Xia giving the cookie crumbs to the birds hovering around the window and Ice writing down her mental notes from the day. She kept the journal out of Xia's view and carefully hid it.

Roger came into their room with a stern look on his face. Xia tensed up but continued throwing crumbs. Roger pulled Xia out of the room and wished Ice a good night.

Xia began talking in Portuguese again, however Roger shushed her by speaking in Portuguese as well.


	8. Charged as Guilty, Boiz and Gurlz

**Author's Note: How was everyone's Halloween? So sorry for being behind on updates... So new chapter! Focusing more on Bunny and (as usual) the terrific trio of Gigi, Kale, and Jyo~! Enjoy boiz and gurlz! Haha**

* * *

"Hey Ice! Been to the loo lately? Everything alright?" A group of boys snickered viciously and howled like animals. Xia took off her boot and chucked it at the boys. They ran away but continued laughing at their weak wit. Ice bit her lip and turned pink.

Ice had been at the House for 2 weeks. Somehow, it had spread like wildfire about her hyperthyroidism and the kids were intrigued by it. The health professors were hassled about what it was and if it was curable and so on. Unfortunately, many of the immature kids had taken it out of proportion when they found out symptoms and side effects of hyperthyroidism.

A poster had been posted in the main hallway and it read:

_Hyperthyroidism._

_As you all know, one of our new students suffers with this disease. Thankfully it is not contagious in anyway, otherwise the following symptoms would've spread to all the other children. _  
_nervousness_  
_irritability_  
**_increased perspiration_**  
_thinning of your skin_  
_fine brittle hair_  
_muscular weakness especially involving the upper arms and thighs_  
_shaky hands_  
**_panic disorder_**  
_insomnia_  
_racing heart_  
**_more frequent bowel movements _**  
_weight loss despite a good appetite_  
**_lighter flow, less frequent menstrual periods_**

_Please alert the nurse if you suffer from any of these especially if after having contact with Miss Icess._

It didn't take much time for the kids to avoid Ice or to taunt her about the bolded symptoms. They also taunted her by calling her Miss Icess. The overly fancy name irked Ice. However it did help narrow down who wrote the poster. Xia and Ice were dragging the culprit to Roger's office, but when the boys distracted them, she fled.

"She left? Typical of that girl. Hmph. Well we gon' hafta jus' tell Roger and hope he believes us. But since ain't no one else here who write like that or has beef with us, he don' have no doubt." Xia got her boot back and checked to see if any of her stitches fell apart. Ice nodded but felt anger welling up inside of her. Xia could tell and let her cool down a bit.

* * *

The girls walked into his office only to find others in there. The culprit was there, and it seemed she was forced against her will. Ice let a self-satisfied smirk spread across her face.

"Ah. Ice, well it seems that Gigi and her friends are witnesses to your case. They also caught the suspect. I'm going to have to punish the boys for manhandling Bunny however..." Roger gave the boys a cool look and they returned it to Gigi. Gigi simply gave a half-smile and looked away.

Bunny was being held by Jyo and her arms were restricted by Kale. Gigi had the poster and a paper written by Bunny. Bunny was trying to smack Jyo with her thick curls and trying to stomp on Kale's feet. Her face was very red and she eyed the stuff in Gigi's hands. Xia chuckled at Bunny's struggle.

"So. Let's hear Bunny's side of the story first. Nobody interrupt. Please and thank you."

"Thank you Mister Roger. I had found out through word of mouth that Miss Icess was suffering from this disease. I figured the other children would want to know if they could have it too. These aren't exaggerated of any sort, they're the real symptoms of Hyperthyroidism. Yes, this trio could've seen me posting this poster in the middle of the night but it was with good intention,don't you see? If anything, they should be punished for not appreciating my hard work. And this is _not_ how you treat a _lady_ either!"

Bunny succeeded in stamping Kale's feet, from which he let go of her arms and jerked back in pain. Jyo let go of her torso in fear of getting his feet stamped as well. Bunny's face slowly returned to color and she flipped her curls. She also tried to snatch Gigi's evidence but got a hiss and almost got bit.

Roger shook his head but wrote down everything Bunny had said in her defense. He looked at Ice and Xia and gave a nod to them.

"This girl is lyin'. Nobody needed to know these symptoms because all of us went through a thorough health exam befo' we was accepted in here. If any of the kids had it, they would've gotten the diagnosis without it needin' to be publicized."

"Not to mention that certain symptoms are purposely bolded so that they would stand out more. A _lady_ does not discuss those matters and neither do_ gentlemen_. Like Xia said, this didn't need to be out there. And my name isn't Icess. It's Ice. The solid form of water, ice. Not the Egyptian goddess. _Don't_ call me_ Miss_either." Ice hissed out her words and Bunny glared at her. The tension between the girls was powerful so Jyo quickly stepped in.

"We're not on anyone's side here but this is our evidence that it was Bunny."

"Speak for yourself Jyo, I see this as bad intention. Maybe it's 'cause we're girls but these are things not to be mentioned. Somebody's health is their own business. Bunny if I made a poster about _your_ health problems, even with good intentions, you'd be upset too. Oh, and here's a letter you left on your desk in Doctor Jennings room. Or rather, a list of all the symptoms and side effects. A few are highlighted over the others. I wonder why that might be?" Gigi carelessly gave Bunny the paper she wanted so badly.

"And your thoughts on this Kale?" Roger asked, half-joking. He looked at the ground and shrugged. Roger frowned and shook his head. He shooed the kids out of his office and said he'd contemplate it and let them know later.

"So you guys really don't care about this?" Gigi hissed at the boys. Kale crossed his arms and gave her a cold stare. Jyo simply shook his head and copied Kale. Xia gave Jyo a glare , she was still upset that Jyo made fun of Ice's skin when they first met. Bunny flipped her curls.

"By the way, Bunny you contradicted yourself in the poster. You said it's not contagious, but then you said that if anyone got these symptoms, it's because of contact with her. That don't make no sense no how." Bunny stretched her mouth to the odd smile/frown and flounced away. Her dress and curls seem to bounce in a taunting manner. Ice felt her face heating up.

"You guys don't seem to like each uzzer. Bunny is hard to get along with, but you're zhe quickest enemy she's ever made. By zhe way, your face is zhe same color as Gigi's hair. Better get zhat checked out. Let's go guys, there's nuzzing to do here at zhe moment." Ice was surprised, Kale's voice was not what she expected it to had a unique accent and a lisp. His voice was also very quiet, yet deep. Gigi shrugged and turned on her heel to leave.

"Oh and Ice, don't worry about Bunny. Since she's letter B, she'll get her share of life. Pretty soon, I hope. Props to you for getting Kale to talk in front of you in less than a month too, don't you love his accent? Ha~!" Gigi sped off with Kale turning pink and chasing her. Jyo shook his head and rolled his eyes but followed.

"What's she mean by that..?" Ice turned to Xia, puzzled. Xia chuckled to herself.

"About what? Kale or Bunny? Well Kale almost never talks, only in front of Jyo or Gigi. And his accent is endearin' to everyone. Naturally, everyone wants him to talk. That's an inside joke between the Wammy kids. It always takes these kids about 2-3 months to get him to say 'hi'. As for Bunny, B is a cursed letter to us. Everyone who's ever had the letter B always had negative consequences in life. Bunny's convinced she's an exception because she's that stuck-up." Xia rolled her eyes and mockingly flipped her curls. Ice laughed.

* * *

"You would not believe what happened to me today, Linda! Those hoodlums Gigi socializes with, Jyo and Kale, had the nerve to grab me!" Bunny was ranting to her best friend in the house, Linda. Linda was known for her extraordinary talent with art. She was also known for having the same pompous manner as Bunny.

"What? Did Roger chastise them, like they deserve? They should not go unpunished! What is it with Gigi hanging out with those two anyway? Girls shouldn't be that close to guys anyway. James and Tabitha are an actual couple, but even they don't have the same relationship as those three."

"My thoughts exactly! Especially Kale, he's so quiet and sophisticated. Certainly someone like him has no benefit from befriending an over energetic bother like Gigi. Jyo is just a bother in general. He's so dark, he needs some life in him." Bunny ran a brush through her thick curls and adjusted her bow. Linda shook her head and pursed her lips.

"So what are you going to do? About Ice? She needs to be taught a lesson for being so rude to you when you first met. Your poster got you in trouble with Mister Roger."

"Hmph. It's not my fault she has a disease. A disease with embarrassing symptoms and side effects at that. I was just informing the House. She got huffy with me because I call her Miss Icess. I personally think it's better to be named after an Egyptian goddess than a form of water. Miss Icess has so much more class than just Ice."

"Well she's Italian-"

"Ick, don't remind me."

"Sorry."

"No harm, no foul. We will deal with Miss Icess later. Right now, we must study. Maybe then you'll get Near to notice your efforts. Oh I know that Gigi will be green with envy as Kale and I get much better scores than her. Come along now dearie." Bunny flounced away with Linda following to the library. Linda turned pink when Near was mentioned and hoped to see him studying.

* * *

**"May I please have the following students in my office, please and thank you. Bunny, Gigi, Ice, Jyo, Kale, and Xia.** "

"Oooooh seems Roger made up his mind. Wonder who's the guilty charge." Gigi half-smiled as she looked at her cohorts. Bunny grimaced and rolled her eyes at the trio. Ice and Xia visited Tikhon again and were eating fruit. They all waited patiently outside his office, with strong tension in the air.

Roger opened the door to his office, "Wonderful, you all are here. Come on in." They entered, the tension barely lifting up.

"So looking over the testimonials you all gave, I have reached a final conclusion. Bunny, you are guilty of doing this with bad intentions. As the girls have said, it was not to be publicized and you should've never made that poster," the girls all smirked at Bunny and the guys awkwardly looked around, "however, you are not the only rule breaker here. As I stated before, Kale and Jyo are in hot water for mistreating Bunny in a physical manner. Gigi, you had no business reading Bunny's work. Xia, no throwing shoes in the hall. And Ice, you need to be a little more polite towards Bunny." They all looked down and didn't make eye contact with Roger. He sighed.

"So for punishments, since you are an even group, I've decided to split it up. One boy and two girls in each group," They gave each other concerned glances. Bunny hid a smirk. " Gigi, Ice, and Kale. You three will assist Andrew in taking care of the garden. Bunny, Jyo, and Xia. You three will help Nurse Keizer-Bette in taking care of the nursery. No, you will not be able to look at the student's medical records. Good day." With that, they were shoved out of his office.

"So all of us were guilty, bet you weren't expecting that, huh Gigi?"

"Xia, you threw your shoe in the hall?"

Gigi was hit with Xia's other boot and Xia was once again called into Roger's office. They snickered.


	9. Tan Snow And Blind Noses

**AN: Sooooo sorry about the crazy update! But hey~! Chapter 9 is up! At least ****_something_**** came out of my in school suspension. I feel like this story is boring...am I boring you guys? Oh and enjoy~**

* * *

"When are these darn aspirin supposed to kick in?" Roger wondered out loud as he saw the scene before him. The veins in his temple were popping out and his nostrils were dangerously flared.

Ice was whimpering a bit and gingerly peeling off her sunburned skin. Matt was there, calming Xia down and preventing her from hurting Jyo. Mello was smirking at Jyo, who now had broken glasses and a bloody nose. Jyo was trying to fix his glasses and blood oozed from his nostrils. Gigi and Kale were assisting Matt in calming down Xia. Bunny was adjusting the bows in her hair.

"Matt. Mello. Get out. NOW!" They ran out and gave the kids a look of bewilderment as they left.

* * *

"Why is that girl so burned? The heck happened?", Mello asked Matt as he took a bite out of a chocolate bar. Matt shrugged.

"She makes Snow White look tan, I guess 3 minutes of sunlight burns her. I was helping Andrew; getting those 3 all the gear they needed to start gardening. I told the girls to tie their hair back, Gigi complied but Ice went to the top of the storage shed. She did some Mario moves and refused to come down. None of us could get her. By the time Andrew came by, she was practically paralyzed. He pulled her from the roof and took her to nurse Keizer-Bette. There's my story, what happened to Jyo?"

Mello chuckled, "You garden , Matt?" Matt gave him a meek look, "Well I was in the nursery when those 3 came up. Xia's ok, Bunny's a whiner, and Jyo just loves irritating me. I guess his girlfriend restricts him because if she's not around, I can't deal with him. So he was taunting me because I like being at the nursery. The kids were around so I tried my best to keep myself under control. But...I couldn't. It wasn't a fight...I just punched him once and he got me once..." Mello pointed to a small red mark under his eye. Matt would've never noticed it.

* * *

The boys were in their room, Roger had placed a ban on them. Until the 6 kids finished their punishments, Mello was not allowed in the nursery and Matt wasn't allowed in the garden.

"This is unfair, why are we banned? It's pointless! Ice burned so she can't even move, and I took care of Jyo so he's blind and useless too!"

"Well your ban is because of your modesty of what happened to Jyo."

"Shut up, Matt!"

Matt shrugged, "You asked."

There was sharp knocking on the door and Matt was ordered to answer it. It was Gigi and Kale with 3 kids from the nursery. Mello brightened up.

"They wanted to see you. Since you're only banned from the nursery, and not the kids, I thought why not?" Gigi pushed the kids towards Mello and tugged Matt out of the room. She gently closed the door as the kids ran to Mello. Matt chuckled a bit.

"What suddenly made you all good-spirited, Gigi?" ,Matt playfully taunted.

"Hey! I'm not a bad person, I can be nice!", Gigi took a step towards Matt.

"Says the ginger." Matt stepped towards Gigi.

"You're a ginger, boy! I'm just a redhead!"

"I don't have freckles."

"NEITHER DO I!" At this point, Matt and Gigi were uncomfortably close.

Kale broke them up and faced Gigi. Despite the height difference, she didn't back away.

"Gigi, calm zhe heck down. Roger will hear you and zhen we'd get into more trouble."

"Oooh I'm surprised you decided to talk Ka-"

"Whatever Matt! Gigi, get zhe kids! I sink I saw Roger and wiff our luck, I'm not taking any chances!"

"Grammar K-"

"GET ZHE KIDS!"

* * *

"Ugh. Mister Andrew, must we really weed out the nasty insects here?" Bunny whined as she saw a dead worm. Andrew gave her a weary look and pointed towards Xia, who was weeding without any complaints. Jyo wasn't there, he was at the nurse.

Andrew was a very tall and muscular man, with beady blue eyes and a blond buzz cut. He was an ex-veteran and enjoyed gardening. Matt would help him garden from time to time, and Andrew was always a little disappointed whenever Matt insisted to keep it a secret. He saw no shame, why would Matt? Yet, he respected his wishes and didn't say anything. He let out a loud sigh.

"Girls. Come on. We'll go inside the greenhouse, I don't want the whiney Bunny to burn like the other girl."

"COELHO PODE QUEIMAR!" Xia screamed. Bunny frowned at her, then purposely dumped her bucket at Xia's feet. Xia began to shake and cleaned up the mess in a hurry. Bunny smirked.

Roger walked out at that exact moment and his hand clasped her shoulder. She tensed up and put a fake smile on her face as she whipped around. This resulted in her hair smacking Xia, which further agitated Roger. Andrew came over and helped Xia up.

"Bunny. I heard Andrew's concern about you burning up like Ice. However, you seemed to miss the whole row of veggies behind you. I'm sure that you have sunscreen Andrew. She can use it too." Bunny's face fell and her nose flushed, making her freckles disappear. Xia hid a smirk.

Andrew nodded and motioned for Xia to follow him to the greenhouse. Bunny stood with her mouth agape and glared at Roger.

"Why don't you check on Miss Gigi? Knowing her, she probably dragged Kale into something more troublesome! And I'm in trouble for accidently knocking over a bucket of sludge and filth! Hmph!"

"I'm going to check on them, actually. Gigi isn't a troublemaker, it's that Kale I'm concerned about. The quiet ones scare me, and Gigi is the exact opposite. Anyways, that is none of your business so get back to gardening and give up on Kale, he doesn't seem interested in you. Or anyone really." Bunny's flush spread even further and her lips narrowed into a straight line. She stomped away in anger and embarrassment.

* * *

"No Mr. Roger! Gigi and Kale have been good! I promise!"

The nursery was a sealed off wing in at Wammy's. It wasn't for the students, but for the children of the workers. Wammy's demanded a lot from it's workers and as a perk, they didn't have to worry too much about what was happening with their kids. Only a few knew it was there and some didn't care at all. Mello was very popular with the kids there, which was a secret because he didn't want others to think of him as a 'softie' or something similar to that. The kids loved it there.  
Roger went to check upon them, and asked about Gigi and Kale. All the kids praised them before running off to their playroom. However, a girl named Margo stayed and listened to Roger's talk with the two.

"Alright Gigi, did you threaten them?"

"Now why would I ever do that?"

"Don't get smart with me. I'm being serious, these kids aren't under Wammy's jurisdiction. You can't treat them like your friends."

"Caaaaalm dooooowwwn. I didn't do anything. Neither did Kale. We just broke up fights and let them pull my hair. They also tried to get this one to talk. Which didn't quite work..."

"Did you take them out of the nursery?"

Margo frowned, she liked Gigi and didn't want her to get in trouble for letting her see Mello. She expected the girl to say no but was surprised to hear silence. 'Why can't she just say no? Then she won't get in trouble...'

"Gigi? Did you take them out of the nursery?"

"OH! Mr. Roger! Are you taking us out? We've been trying to convince Gigi to let us out! We wanna see Mello! Better than being in here and just having staring contests with Callie!"

"Don't you mean Kale?"

"Oh...that's his name?"

Roger shook his head, "Alright Gigi, since you and Kale didn't seem to screw up here, you guys can take a break. Stay away from the nurse's office and the garden. You may not socialize with Jyo or provoke Bunny. Margo, I'm sorry but you can't see Mello." Margo pouted and Roger left. Gigi let out a sigh.

"Thanks for covering for us Margo...We'll go now."

"Wait. Gigi...why didn't you just say no when he asked? Isn't that easier?"

"No Margo. It's not. I'm not the kind of girl to do that..." With that Gigi swiftly turned on her heel and strided out of the nursery, with Kale following.

* * *

****Xia sighed as she walked out of the nurse's office. Ice was too burnt to be able to go back to their room that night. Meaning that Xia had to be alone, again. The only joy she saw on her visit was Jyo rubbing his nose and holding an ice pack to his eye. She couldn't help but taunt him because he was stupid enough to think he couldn't make Mello mad enough.

However, she felt a pang of jealousy as the nurse called Gigi and Kale, by Jyo's request. Xia felt that she needed Ice, so she could somewhat connect with Jyo. The jealousy came from the fact that Jyo could call the two when he needed to, Xia wanted a friend like that. But because of her mental stability, she never could. Gigi gave a friendly wave and smile when she saw Xia but Xia only nodded.

As she opened the door to her lonely room, Xia set herself in Ice's bed and fell asleep.


	10. Bleach Your Skin & Get A Tan!

**AN: 'Ello, 'ello, 'ello! Short chapter, sorry. :(**

**It's a Near chapter though :D**

**If you're wondering where I got that Near was Thai, it's in the Live Action movie. **

**Stick around at the end of the chapter, it's an important message to all my readers. Kind of where I got the inspiration for Near's thoughts in this. **

**ENJOY~**

* * *

"Oh, hello Near! Great timing! I need to go run an errand, can you stay here and watch Ice?"

"I don't understand."

"Just stay here and make sure no one hassles her. She keeps trying to peel off her skin, but don't let her, or let anyone convince her otherwise. Gotta get going, toodle-oo!" Nurse Keizer-Bette left her office, leaving Near confused. He heard a voice from the other side of the curtain.

"It's my skin, and it's not like she understands it. She's already tan! Now I'm gonna look a-stupid!" He walked around it and saw Ice lying down with bright, red patches over her skin. The patches were very uneven, as a result of Ice's constant picking and peeling. Near noticed that only her neck and face were affected, and her arms weren't.

"...How did this happen?", Near asked lethargically. Ice didn't know if he was being sarcastic or genuinely concerned so she pouted and turned her face away. Near awkwardly stared at her, not knowing if she was going respond or stay quiet.

"Why are you here? You seem fine. I've heard you typically stay inside anyway, so how can you be hurt?". Near wasn't surprised that Ice questioned him. He had a feeling that she didn't like him, considering she abruptly left after their first encounter, it still bothered him.

"You've only been here for about three weeks. I doubt the kids are that interested in what I do. Well, to answer your question, I am here to be alone. The kids here seldomly have the need to visit the nurse. So this is my perfect isolation from everyone else. However you seem to be here, I've answered your question. Will you answer mine?".

"I'm burned", Ice pointed to her face and neck, "Roger's punishment backfired on him. Now I'm gonna look twice as weird! I got picked on enough because I lack color and now I have too much going on! I blame Roger."

Near didn't know what to say, but he found it rather intriguing that Ice had to suffer because of her pallor. After all, Xia was looked down upon because of her dark skin tone and the kids leaning towards the medium skin spectrum were also made fun of. He looked at his own hand and guessed he was lucky to be paler, but not too pale. Then again, it seemed that it didn't matter because he still didn't want to be with the kids.

"Wait. Aren't you from California?"

"Yyyyeeeaaahhh. But...I never really...went outside much...I HAVE A CONDITION!" Ice grimaced as she gingerly rubbed her jaw, the sudden outburst didn't agree with her burned skin. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to yell. But I guess you don't really care, huh? Anyways, if you wanna be alo-"

"Thank you so much, Near. I've finished my errands. You have to go now, I have to convince Ice to slather on her serum. I'm afraid you can't really be here alone, but come back in a few days and she'll be gone."

"A few days!? Roger expects me to be here bored outta.." Near was gently shooed out of the office, still confused.

* * *

Near was in his room. Like Gigi, he had a room to himself. The room floor was littered with toys and the corners were occupied with towers and figurines. He sighed, and twirled his curly hair.

He was still bothered by Ice's sudden yelling. Why did she get so defensive? He really couldn't come to a solid conclusion. Every time he tried, it only sprouted more questions. Is it because she hated California? Or because she didn't remember it? Was it the fact that because she was from California really had nothing to do with her skin? Near then wondered how he even found out that Ice was from California. He didn't go out of his way to find out, and when they first encountered, she didn't mention it.

He looked at his hand, or more specifically, the color. His skin had just enough color to look healthy, and to be able to last in the sun without burning.

Near thought about his family. They were Thai-American, losing touch with their Thai roots. He remembered how his parents and siblings had tawny skin, it seemed to tan under any light, and then there was him. His fair complexion and colorless hair showed no resemblance to his family. Even though his family never acknowledged it out loud, he could tell that they saw him as an outsider.

Near started working on a new tower and tried pushing Ice's confusing actions out of his head.

* * *

**This chapter deals with something that's been bugging me and a few friends of mine; skin color. **

**The media always portrays pale skin as prettier and dark skin as dirty. **

**I'm a light medium skin tone (to my makeup gals, I'm NC 20-27ish) , but I've always wanted to be paler (No, Ice is not pale because of ****_my_**** desire to be paler). And my best friend (who is Black) likes darker skin. Why? I don't know...**

**My brother recently started feeling bad about his darker skin tone (he's like 3 shades tanner than me) and I guess I realized just how much the media sets this idea.**

**ALL skin types are beautiful to different people. They each have their own advantages.**

**Preference is preference though, don't let the media get you down about your skin color. Just because your skin is pale doesn't mean you're an automatic supermodel and just because you have dark skin doesn't mean you're dirty!**

**I'm sorry if this author's note was pointless to you or just an annoyance but I ****_know_**** I'm not the only one insecure about this. Remember, your skin color is out of your control, better to accept it than to reject and hate it! **

**kthnxbai!**


	11. That Joke Is Not Funny

Mello jerked awake. He felt very groggy and it took a moment for him to recognize his surroundings. Gigi had her hand on his shoulder and looked just as tired. Mello looked at the computer screen and realized it was 2:17 a.m. With a yawn, he emailed his History report to his professor and rubbed his eyes to reduce his sleepiness.

"Dude. That report isn't due in another three days. Why send it now? And it looks like this is routine for you, huh? Who leaves the blankie?" Gigi gestured to the blanket around Mello's shoulders. It was quite soft and seemed rather unique. Mello had noticed that whenever he fell asleep in the library ,which was often, he always woke up with the blanket around him. He didn't know who it was that did it, since the librarian always denies it, but did awkwardly thank the empty library whenever he woke up.

"Thanks for the wake up call Gigi. Yeah...I fall asleep in here a lot. I don't know who or what leaves the blanket here but I'm not complaining! Because...I'm done. And Near already turned his in! Where is your boyfriend, huh?" Mello teased while he got up and stretched.

Gigi smirked, "Well that depends on which one you're referring to. Kale's asleep and Jyo is pretending to sleep but is actually playing video games. THEY'RE NOT MY BOYFRIENDS! Ah, makes sense. I guess. Only at Wammy's is this normal..."

"Oh c'mon! You're part of the Wammy's family too! Just lazy. I'd say Jyo is like Matt, but that'd be an insult to Matt, or 'Mattie'. Well, I'm off to my bed now. And um...whoever tucks me in...thanks?" Mello gave Gigi an odd glance and she responded with a snicker. He gently nudged her forward and followed her out of the library.

* * *

Xia looked around her room and felt sad, Ice still hadn't shown up. Even though her sunburn had healed, Ice remained in the nurse's office. Roger didn't want Ice to walk around with patches of tanned skin randomly scattered across her face and neck, so she had to get her skin bleached to try and even out the skin tones. Xia's punishment was long over, but it seemed Ice still had to suffer.

Xia then remembered about her blanket. She quickly got up and ran to the library. Xia had found a secret entrance to the library when she first arrived to Wammy's, and she had been using it since. It was rather simple; a closet that led to a ladder, the ladder would lead to an underground hallway that entered the library from a secret trap door. Nobody ever used it, so pure shock had overcome Xia when she saw Jyo at the secret entrance.

"Jyo? What're you doing here?"

"Oh...just hanging around this random closet in the hallway that caught my attention. It's so weird...It doesn't start at the floor. Instead, it's more like a convenient crawl space in the middle of the wall. Even for tall people, like us."

"Where's Gigi? Shouldn't you be with her?"

"Why does everyone think that? The rumors aren't even with me! Everyone says her and MELLO are an item. And then they say I have to be with her, what? I don't even know if she's interested! We're only 8!"

"WHAT?" Xia was no longer shocked, but instead she seemed angry.

"Oh, oops. Well this closet isn't interesting anymore. Bye!" Jyo scurried past Xia.

Xia felt like punching Jyo's crooked glasses off his face but she had to get the blanket first.

* * *

Jyo walked into his room howling with laughter, his glasses were sliding down his red face. Kale was not so happy of the sudden oversized albino hyena Jyo had turned into. After seeing the grave face of his roomie, Jyo calmed down a bit but his face was still flushed and he didn't fix his glasses.

"Vats so funny?" Kale asked, Jyo didn't appreciate the slight annoyance in his voice.

"You mean besides your accent?", Kale glared, "let it go man! Anyways, Gigi let me in on some gossip. So I tested it out and it's true! And so I erupt into laughs."

"Gossip? Gigi isn't really one to gossip..."

"Well, it wasn't really gossip. She just had a hunch and I tested it. Stop killing my fun!"

Kale got up and left the room to find Gigi, while Jyo resumed his laughter.

* * *

With shaking fists, Xia clutched the blanket in her room. She could feel tears stinging the back of her eyes, but she wasn't sad. No, she was infuriated. Xia knew Gigi's duo had something to do with it. Since Kale never did anything without Gigi's consent, it had to be Jyo. Why not Gigi? Because she was the only one who was nice to her, the other two just pulled her around knowing that Gigi would protect them.

Staring at the blanket in her fists, Xia's anger increased. When she had walked into the library, in a panic, a conveniently placed book had caused her to trip forward. In an attempt to regain balance, her arms shot ahead of her. Xia ended up accidentally pushing a cart ahead of her, and the cart's wheel had tangled the blanket. Taking the fall, Xia quickly tried to retrieve the blanket to avoid further damage. However, when the blanket had been freed, it was too late.

On the blanket was a crude drawing of Mello with the words "drag queen" over him. Threads had been carefully pulled out, only an expert eye would've been able to notice them. And of course with her OCD, Xia could see the threads clearly and felt mangled on the inside. Not to mention the cart's damage on her blanket, but that was her own fault.

"Jyo. This is my final string that you have cut. Just because your girlfriend won't hurt you, and I can't hurt you, doesn't mean this will swing by. I doubt Gigi even knows about this, and when Roger finds out. Ooooh, you are going down fatso!"

Xia stormed out of her room,and her medication bottle was left untouched.


	12. The Stakes Have Been Raised

Gigi felt a lump build up in her throat. She clenched the destroyed blanket the same way Xia had a few moments ago. Kale stood behind her with his typical blank face. Xia knew Gigi was an honest person and put her credibility over her friends any day.

"Kale. Did he...?"

"..."

Xia saw how torn Gigi was and felt bad. Her anger wasn't towards Gigi or Kale, it was towards Jyo. Kale didn't show anything but he almost never did.

"I hope you know that Imma be showin' this to Roger. Y'all know he gon' make you see this again and ask the same thing I just did."

"Y-Yeah. And it'd make sense too. I would probably do the same. K-Kale? Let's go." Gigi turned around solemnly and Kale gently nudged her forward. He turned and gave Xia a blank stare before mouthing a few words. Xia couldn't tell what he said but didn't care.

* * *

"Kale?"

"I dunno. Knowing him, probably. Zhis morning he came in our room laughing his head off. About zomting you said. Vhat vaz it exactly?"

"I just said Mello wakes up with a blanket around him whenever he's in the library. I was being sarcastic when I said it might be Xia. How did he get your drawing!?"

Gigi was closing in on Kale, she told him to destroy that drawing of Mello. Even though he never called him a drag queen, much less captioned the drawing with those words, she knew it was his. That would be their downfall.

"Zhat makes so much more sense now! Ok before you set yourself on fire, who else knows about suh drawing?"

"Jyo..."

"And Matt."

Matt snuck up on Gigi with a wry smile. She backed into Kale but he stood his ground. Matt stared Gigi down until Kale made her jump by grabbing her sides.

"You guys know once Roger sees that blanket-"

"He's gonna blame Jyo and Jyo will blame us."

"Mmhmm! Hit the button on the nose Kale! It doesn't help that Miss Night Owl was in the library with Mello and the blanket."

"But he led me out. He left after me."

"Isn't he a gentleman? I'm just saying, the odds aren't in your favor." Matt was grave as he said this, but a rather cruel smile crept on his face as continued, "This trio's going to have to break up. Jyo's getting razed. Mello's going to be happy, are you? Less competition for ya, huh Kale?"

Gigi's face dropped. She turned pale and began chewing her pinky nail. She would've fallen backward if Kale wasn't there.

'Razed' was a term used between the Wammy's Kids. The term was defined as "to destroy". To the kids, getting razed meant being forcibly kicked out of the House. It was a bit of a cruel twist as it sounded like "raised", as in ranking. So either you were a step closer to being the best or out of the game for good, it was a 50-50 chance.

Matt chose to stare at Kale instead of Gigi, he felt less guilt that way.

"Either you're going to have to go with him or let him be on his own. Poor Xia, not knowing how much pain she's forcing on you." Kale didn't move a facial muscle but kept Gigi supported so she wouldn't fall over. Matt flicked Gigi's nose and casually kept walking. Kale's grip on her tightened.

"You should see ze nurse." Kale said in concern. Gigi nodded but didn't move.

"Jyo...you idiot."

* * *

Nurse Keizer-Bette took a glance at Gigi and immediately began chastising Kale. He led her to the bed next to Ice.

"What did you do to her?! Why is she so pale? Why do YOU need to support her? Why is her nose so pink? My lord, she looks like she's going to pass out!"

"That's kinda why I brought her here..."

As the two were arguing, Ice was eating a handful of grapes. She saw Gigi and also felt concerned.

"Gigi? What's going on? You want some grapes?"

"Y-you're Xia's roomie. She hasn't t-told you yet?"

"No. Roger won't let her see me!"

Gigi numbly chewed on the fruit offered to her. She inhaled deeply through her nose as she started telling the story.

"Xia has a crush on Mell-"

"Oh! So I was right!", Ice smiled triumphantly.

"Yeah. Anyway, she was sweet enough to make him a blanket and whenever he's exhausted himself in the library, she'd tuck him in. I just found out today and told Jyo."

Gigi's voice was becoming rather hoarse and Ice looked around for water. She carefully poured Gigi a cup and handed it over. Gigi took it but only looked at the tiles on the floor.

"Xia found the blanket destroyed and tainted. According to Kale, Jyo walked in their room laughing about it. Evidence towards Jyo is clear." Gigi's voice had cracked here, and she drank the water but couldn't finish her sentence. She began to tremble and Ice gave her more. Slugging it down, Gigi tried to finish the story but that only made her worse.

Nurse Keizer-Bette had stopped scolding Kale and left. Kale saw Gigi struggling to talk and finished the story for her.

"Jyo's getting razed", Gigi emitted a weird sound and Kale gently grasped her shoulder, "and chances are zhat we might go down with him. But since we don't have evidence towards uz, he's on his own. Unlezz we choose to go wiff him, which ve von't."

"Razed?", Ice didn't show it but she got a bit of a kick out of Gigi's reaction. That, and she honestly didn't know what it meant. Xia never mentioned it.

"G-getting kicked out-t. Here, you have 5 strikes. Jyo's been messin' with Mello ever since he got here. This'll be his fifth strike. And if he thinks me and K-Kale are going down with him..."

At this, Gigi stopped trembling and passed out, falling forward. Kale caught her and fixed her positioning so she'd lie down right. Ice smiled and made eye contact with Kale.

"It seems she can't tell me. So Kale, what does one do to get razed? And how many strikes do you have?" Kale was taken aback and didn't say anything at first. But he knew that staring at Gigi wouldn't help and it would lead to unfortunate implications.

"I'm not a trouble maker. Typically, I just happen to be _around_ when something goes wrong."

Ice couldn't help but tease the already uncomfortable Kale, "So you're around all the _trouble_, or just around_ Gigi_?" As expected, Kale's face showed more embarrassment.

"Do you_ like_ Gigi?"

"We're only 8!"

"So? Look at Xia! And Keizer-Bette said Bunny's taken a liking to you!"

Kale started to blush but didn't move, " I don't know Bunny! Xia only likes Mello because he _unwillingly_ helped her get into this house!"

"Hmmm, is that so? But the kids here don't even act like kids."

"Because we've been trained to have a mature mind-set. Or something like that. They treat us like we're teenagers and we've adapted."

"Wow, really? This house really is somethin'!"

Ice started snickering, causing Kale to feel even more awkward.

* * *

"I hate to admit it, but this plan is actually workin', Bunny. Gettin' Xia pissed enough to kick lardo's ass outta here!" Akweenia said to Bunny, as they saw Xia storming her way to Roger's office. Bunny flipped her curls and smoothed her dress down.

"Watch your mouth, if you will. Once Jyo gets razed, his friends are _bound_ to go down with him! After that, we only have to get rid of Ice and Xia!"

"Mind tellin' me again why we gotta get rid of them three befo' the two we actilly hate?"

"Because, Ice is still too new. And have you seen her in classes? I know I haven't! She's probably taking remedial classes or being truant. She hasn't shown any skill at all, so why is she even here? Surely, she can't be anything near L's level! It's just unfair." Bunny said in a huff, she licked her teeth.

"Girl, ya know I'm only here to get rid of Xia, right? I'm not here to instigate or nutin', whatchu got with that lil' white chihuahua ain't mah problem."

"Akweenia? I'm afraid you don't understand. You're already in this. Once you back out on me, I'm telling Mister Roger that it was you who pulled those threads out, told Gigi to be in the library, and rearranged the cart." Bunny's face was red.

Sucking her teeth, Akweenia replied with a simple, "Snitch."

* * *

**PLOT TWIST! OOOOOh!11!1**

**Thanks for reading and I'm ssssoooooo sorry about the ****_ridiculous_**** updating! **

**I'll try to be better! But how you likin' the story so far? Lemme know in any way, shape, or form!**

**x0x0x0x0**

**...I really hate the text formatting of this...**


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